You’ll be fit in a way you’ve probably never been before. I call it “bulletproof fitness.” You have to be an all-round athlete to tackle the 800m, so the training plan is designed to create an all-round athlete.

You’ll become mentally more resilient. I’ve learned more from track and field than I have in all my years of schooling. Running trains the brain. It teaches you to be tough, to focus, to have foresight. There will be a little metal lesson or focus every week.

You’ll learn to become more technical. You’ve probably done high knees your whole life. Do you know why? Do you know how to do technically sound high knee? I’ll walk you through the drills.

We will rotate through speed days, anaerobic days, aerobic days, and strength days. A typical week will consist of 3 workouts (published Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday). You should do these with at least one day of rest in between. (ie: working out is not like a bank, you can’t deposit all your workouts in at the beginning of the week and coast for the rest of the week. The rest is important.) The workouts will rotate. You’ll find that you will have a favorite type of workout and a least favorite type of workout. The least favorite is probably the one you are weakest at. I know mine is because I don’t like being bad at things. Unfortunately, you have to be bad at things before you are good at things. Do the workouts you don’t like, it will turn your weakness into a strength and build character. Do not use the “well I just suck at tempos” type of excuse. If you suck at something, that means you have more room to improve.

The Goal:

I want you to write down a “soft” goal and a “hard” goal. The soft goal is what you want out of the program. It doesn’t have a clear-cut criteria. Do you want to get stronger? Get tougher? Work on commitment? Learn to be more mindful? Think of it as a self-improvement goal.

Your hard goal is what you what you want to accomplish. For example:

I want to run 1.57

I want to make an Olympic team

I want to lose 10 pounds

They are real, tangible number goals. It’s a box you can check off when you accomplish it. AND THEN! You get to be satisfied for approximately 2 seconds before you write down a new hard goal to chase. It’s a hard goal, so make it hard. Don’t be afraid to let yourself dream big.

FAQ

Q: I can’t fit all my workouts in this week. Should I make them up next week?

A: No, absolutely not. If you can’t make it work, skip it, don’t worry, and keep on track.

Q: Can I cross train instead of run on my off days?

A: You bet.

Q: What if I feel a little pain? Should I run?

A: Follow this flow chart

Q: How fast should my warm up be?

A: It doesn’t matter. Slow enough that you don’t blow out your hamstring

Q: I can’t complete the fitness test, is that OK?

A: You bet. You’ll get there

Q: I don’t know how to do drills. How do I learn to do all the drills?

A: You can’t learn everything on day one. I will focus on one drill a week. Do what you are comfortable with and you will learn as you advance through the program.

Q: What if I don’t have access to a track?

A: No problem! Convert the distance into time estimates and run the assigned effort for that amount of time. For example: 8x400m at mile pace would be converted to 8x75 seconds at mile pace effort if your goal pace is a 5 minute mile.